And the mission to cover up all the women of Egypt continues... but who is behind all these disgusting ads?
After Ursula posted about the lollipop, I found this candy ad via Wael Abbas
It says, "A veil to protect or eyes will molest" on the top while below it has a quote from the Quran that mentions how God wants people to walk in the right path while those who are sinful/lustful want you to deviate from it.

Being a student of literature I'm very active in my department's cultural society which tries to keep students connected to the cultural scene in Egypt and the world. We host writers, publish a students' magazine and organize outings to see plays and movies. Part of my job is to make posters for seminars hosted by the society.

At first the posters I designed didn’t seem to attract students so I tried using different colors of paper and pens as well as adding small designs in black and red on the side. For our last seminar we hosted novelist Sahar El Mougy to discuss her latest novel Noon, ن, and the idea of rewriting myth and as part of my experimentation with the posters, I used black paper and wrote with a silver marker. I also xeroxed the book cover and pasted it in a corner of the poster so if someone is passing and notices the book, they'd stop and read.

I was astonished at the remarks I heard about the poster. Students stopped to criticize the book cover instead of to read the announcement of the upcoming seminar. Some people and friends said that it was very daring of me to put the cover on the poster. I know I could have used the other cover (there are two publications of the book) but part of me wanted to see the reactions of the students. Cairo University is after all part of the Egyptian society with all its beliefs, thoughts and traditions.

Yet, in spite of knowing all that, the degree of contradiction and extremism was way beyond what I imagined. I overheard students asking how could they allow a book with such a cover to be published and others commenting on how dare I stick it on the walls of the department. They left me wondering what the hell they were doing studying literature. The book cover is a painting, a piece of art, and that all they could see in it is that the woman in the painting is half naked shocked me. It shocked me not only because they were unable to appreciate the artist's talent, vision and technique but also because, like the rest of society, they are unable to appreciate the beauty of a woman's body. For them a woman's body ceases to be a symbol of life and becomes only a sexual entity that has to be covered up. This is a widespread attitude and what saddens me is that the women adopt it as well.

The poster didn’t last long on the wall. No one tore it off of course but there were obvious attempts to tear the picture of the book's cover off the poster. I had glued it with UHU so when it wouldn’t come off, they scribbled all over it with a black marker like they do in magazines. I knew they would do such a thing eventually but what was really shocking was how narrow minded the students were. They all study humanities and they are not able to appreciate a work of art. I just wonder how they passed their aesthetics exam!

Iran has a feminist movement I truly envy. Hope its current crazy government wont succeed in putting an end to it like ours did fifty years ago!

By Maura J. Casey
WeNews commentator
Iran has just closed Zanan, an influential women's magazine that covered international politics, prisons, Islamic law; never chocolate cake. Maura Casey says the closure could be temporary; if not, it's a terrible loss. Editor's Note: The following is a commentary. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily the views of Women's eNews.
(WOMENSENEWS)--Iran's most influential women's magazine, Zanan, has become the latest victim of a government intent on censoring, harassing and imprisoning opponents, journalists in particular. Officials accused the monthly journal of damaging society by being too negative toward Iran and closed the publication Jan. 28.
Zanan is hardly alone, of course. Iranian courts have used similar rationale to close many scores of newspapers and magazines in the last 10 years, particularly those that called for free speech and greater civil liberties. But Zanan, which means "women" in Farsi, was one of a kind; it was the only serious women's magazine in Iran and had a wide following, both in Iran and around the world.
Zanan's crusading editor, Shahla Sherkat, who lives in Tehran, founded the magazine 16 years ago to explore serious topics that affect women in the Islamic Republic: politics, women in prison, international issues affecting women and the impact Islamic law has on women's lives. Sherkat also ran book reviews, stories about women in sports and health issues, among other topics.

Here is the typical misogynist argument we have to fight against everyday. Human rights and feminist NGOs aim at destroying family morality because they want women to report their abusive family members to the police!!

This title may sound strange, but it’s actually not just a way to attract readers to the topic because I really do mean what it indicates. Violence is a broad term, especially when used regarding women. In this piece, I want to shed light on those instances where violence against women is a must.First, we should know the meaning of the word violence. Longman’s Dictionary of Contemporary English defines violence as “behavior that is intended to hurt other people physically.” However, the term violence mustn’t be confused with other concepts and terms such as gender inequality or absence of women rights.Occasionally – if not daily – we hear about events occurring in Islamic and Arab societies. Some human rights organizations recently have attacked violent acts against women, standing against any type of violence – even that between a father and daughter – and citing the cases of some women as examples.Consequently, they offer solutions such as complaining to the police, taking revenge or leaving them men, who are either their husbands, fathers or brothers – with no exceptions.One such case involved a woman whose husband allegedly had beaten her. Without revealing the husband’s reasons for doing so, such human rights organizations immediately urged the wife to complain to the police and the courts, while at the same time generalizing the instance and other similar solutions to any type of violence.If a man and woman are husband and wife, the Qur’an provides solutions, firstly reaffirming any logical and acceptable reasons for such punishment. These solutions are in gradual phases and not just for women, but for men also.For men, it begins with abandoning the marital bed, by opting to sleep elsewhere in the house. After this, they may discuss the matter with any respected person for the husband’s or the wife’s family, who could be in a position to advise the wife. If this also does not work, then the husband yields to beating the wife slightly. They do this because of a misunderstanding in the Quran, as the word says Darban, which is commonly understood today as beating. However, in Classic Arabic it means to set examples or to announce and proclaim. The more accurate meaning of this last one is that the husband finally has to set forth, to make a clear statement or proclamation, and if these measures fail, then divorce is preferable.Similarly, wives may take actions such as abandoning the marital bed, following by leaving the husband’s home for that of their parents, brothers or any other relatives. They may do this more than once, but if such action fails, they may not continue to live with their husband and via their relatives, they may request a divorce.Despite such instructions, beating is considered a type of violence, according to human rights organizations, which urge women to complain to the police. I just wonder what kind of families our societies would have if Muslim women started doing this regarding their husbands.Relationships between fathers and daughters or sisters and brothers also provoke argument from human rights organizations, which propose the suggested solutions for all relationships. Personally, I don’t think fathers or brothers would undertake such behavior unless there was a reason for it.Fathers are responsible for their daughters’ behavior, but human rights organizations deny this too. Brothers also should take action regarding their sisters’ behavior, especially if their parents are too old or dead. If a daughter or sister makes a mistake – especially a moral one – that negatively affects the entire family and its reputation, what’s the solution by such organizations?According to them, women should complain to the courts about any type of violence against them. Likewise, should fathers and brothers complain to police if their daughters or sisters violate moral, Islamic or social norms?Fathers should handle their daughters via any means that suits their mistake; thus, is it better to use violence to a certain limit or complain to the police? Shall such women then complain to the police against their fathers or brothers? It’s really amazing to hear this.

Ok, so I get why they have to show an ID to the hotel manager, but why do they have to register with local police for staying in a hotel!!!

The authorities in Saudi Arabia have decided to end a ban on unaccompanied women staying in the country's hotels. A woman can now stay in a hotel alone as long as she carries identification. Based on a royal decree, the move marks a break from religious codes requiring women to be accompanied by a male guardian at all times. The decree allowed the Ministry of Trade to outline new regulations simply requiring women to show photographic ID to hotel managers. This must then be registered with local police. The decision was reported by the local daily al-Watan newspaper, which is considered close to the Saudi government, on Monday.

While reviewing everything I have posted or forgot to post about this year I realized there was one thing I should not have missed and that is this year's issue of Al Bosla, an Egyptian radical democratic annual publication in Arabic. So far Al Bosla has published four issues each of which deal with one topic that has a strong impact on the Egyptian social, political and economic situation. Each of these topics is dealt with from all possible angles through a democratic leftist/secular perspective.
One thing I really like about Al Bosla is that, unlike other "know-it-all" local publications that recycle dominant misconceptions and call it "analysis", it is actually written by people who know what they are talking about.
This year's issue is about Egyptian women. It tackles issues from the political (the position of women in society in the light of Islamists' struggle with the state) to the personal (the female body) and from the cultural (image of women in the cinema and theatre) to the literary (new feminist writings on the web).
In addition to the main topic a few articles tackle issues of foreign policy, religion and leftist movements in Iraq.
The second, third and fourth issues are all available online and if you are interested in local Egyptian politics I strongly recommend you read the previous issues as well.

Aaah! Finally my load of work is almost completely done and I can now lie back and relax and blog. Can't believe it has been almost a month since I last posted anything! Happy Eid and Merry Christmas everybody!
2007 is almost over and for this reason I'll be posting round ups of the year from now till new year eve.
The first person I want to talk about and thank from all my heart is Sheikh Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah who, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, issued a fatwa that is very supportive of the basic rights of women as human beings and that gave me back some of my faith in the possibility of ending the patriarchy that dominates our culture and understanding of religion.
In his fatwa Sheikh Fadlallah, who is well known for his position against honor crimes that are widespread in "democratic" Jordan and Syria, begins by acknowledging that though women have regained many of their rights they still suffer from discrimination and violence. He then proceeds to describe the different types of violence that women suffer from: domestic violence (forced to marry, beaten up, raped, sworn at, deprived of marital rights, thrown out of the house, not allowed to continue with her education), social violence (honor crimes, low pay at work)... and so on.
After this overview he moves on to issue his fatwa in which he states that since Islam looks at women as equal to men, and a marriage in Islam is based on "Ma'rouf" (tenderness, respect and love in treating each other) hence, no man has the right to control an adult woman (wilaiyah) and no husband is allowed to swear at, beat up or force his wife to do what she doesn't want to do. Accordingly, if a husband beats up his wife she is allowed to beat him back in self defence and if he deprives her of her marital rights she has the right to deprive him of whatever they agreed on in the marriage contract.
An interesting point mentioned in the fatwa is that in no place in Islamic texts was it mentioned that women have to do housework so a man should be grateful that his wife is volunteering to take care of the household.
Here is the link to the full Arabic fatwa. For an English, French or Persian version click here.
As expected, the fatwa pissed off the Islamist book burners (to borrow my favourite Angry Arab expression) of the Arab world and weirdo "human rights" male activists who ignored everything mentioned in the fatwa and focused only on how dare he tell women to beat their husbands back and continued to vehemently defended the "benefits" of beating the wife.
Sheikh Fadlallah's fatwa was described as "abnormal" by people who actually spend hours of their lives deciding on how severe/light a beating of the wife should be when she doesn't behave as she is told to!
Anyway, what we really need for the time being is more sheikhs like Fadlallah and hopefully, some time in the future, the day will come when Muslims world wide would use their brains and commensense inleading their lives instead of waiting for muftis to tell them what to do.

For once in a long time I finally found an Egyptian soap opera worth watching. Qadiyat raii Aam (Public Case) starring TV and cinema super star, Yosra, opens with a rape scene, the rape of two female doctors and a nurse by three stoned young men one of whom happens to be the son of an important minister. From that point onwards the soap begins to examine the effect of the rape on the women, their families and the rapists and their families.
What is really good about the soap is the way it criticises the Egyptian society's tendency to blame victims of rape. In it Abla, played by Yosra, decides to pursue her case to make sure that the men who have harmed her and her colleagues are punished for what they did. In doing so she faces several problems. There is the problem of facing society after her story is made public in the press; the problem that one of the men is the son of a very influential political figure and the difficulty of getting the two women who were raped with her to speak up because they are afraid of the scandal.
Though the way the issue is dealt with is very realistic for the greatest part, the soap opera is incredibly idealistic in its faith in the legistlative system of the country. For instance, the police officers sympathize with the women and don't give a damn about the minister's threats and ask him to go away -quite the opposite of what one reads and hears of in the news and on the streets.
Instead of applauding the soap opera, the Egyptian National Council for Women (which was formed with a presidential decree in 2000) denounced it. The rape scene has so hurt their sensibilities they have condemned the soap as insulting to women and damaging to Egypt's reputation!!!

Two more additions to my black list. This time under the subtitle of rape apologists. If you had read this week's Sawt Al Ummah or Al Ahram Weekly you must have heard of what happened to the Lebanese singer Marwa and you would know why I have picked Sawt Al Ummah's Hassan Abdel Fattah and Al Wafd's Mohamed Mustafa Sherdi for number three on my list.
Over ten days ago the Lebanese pop singer, Marwa, was singing on stage in a music festival in Al Agamy when she was all of a sudden sexually attacked by young Egyptian men in the audience (remember the Eid incident). She was traumatized and the festival was cancelled.
Here are excerpts of Abdel Fattah's report on the incident that at best can be described as shameless: (Italics mine)
"The audience molested Marwa who was wearing a green low cut dress that made her look very sexually provocative. After she ended her show, and in spite of the presence of more than 50 body guards around her, the singer was suddenly surrounded by young men whose hands were centered on her chest area which was naked."
"What happened made Marwa panic and she kept crying nonstop for a whole hour and yet she turned down her body guard's request to report the incident to the police. Because of her sexually provocative songs Marwa was responsible for the cancellation of the rest of the festival."
And then he concludes, " It remains to be said that Marwa's sexually provocative song "You Don't Know How To [do it]" was the first spark that made the young men attack her and try to rape her especially with the very hot way she sang it."
Al Ahram Weekly quotes Sherdi saying : (italics mine)
"We definitely condemn what the audience did, but I also strongly reject the provocative acts of the singer [Marwa]. I condemn this strange trend mushrooming among female singers who wear revealing clothes... her performance was replete with overt sexual innuendo."
I too condemn the low quality of her songs, her bad music and bad voice but what does that have to do with her being sexually molested?
Read the quotes again and you come up with one conclusion, she had it coming. It wasn't nice of the guys to molest her but, you know, they are guys, she seduced them, it's not their fault. Poor them!
Men who walk around thinking that they have the right to molest any woman who doesn't follow the dress code of "virtue" disgust me!
Thanks SP.

In Cairo summertime also means Egyptian movie time, which in turn means that all our (not-so-giant) media producers come out with all sorts of commercial "talkies", mostly of the slapstick comedy type, so as to collect as much allowance money from gullible young school kids and dumb grown ups as possible.
This year things are slightly different with two of the most talked about movies being, supposedly, romance stories. Based on the tradition of love legends like those of Qais wi Laila and Romeo and Juliet this summer Egyptians were bombarded with ads about Omar wi Salma and Taimour wi Laila (wi= and). The question of why guys' names always come first put aside, the two movies are anything but love stories. They are both a celebration of male chauvinist double standards and social hypocrisy.
Omar wi Salma doesn't really deserve much discussion, it's all about a guy (Omar) and his dad who do nothing but chase women until the young man "falls in love" with the girl (Salma) with whom, for the rest of the movie, he keeps arguing and fighting because he can't control his urge to flirt with other women (he's a man you see!) and yet he loves her!
While Omar wi Salma was criticized in press reviews for being a technically weak movie Taimour wi Shafiqa was described by a critic in an opposition paper as "Adam and Eve bared of social constraints" which, if you start counting the number of times the expression "I'm/ he's the man" is said in the movie, will make you wonder if this critic was stoned while watching it.
Though Taimour wi Shafiqa is a much better on the levels of plot, script and acting than Omar wi Salma, it still is very sexist and deeply entrenched in social definitions of gender roles not to mention that it contains some amount of exaggeration and generalization.
The movie starts with the voice of Taimour narrating his and his beloved's story since they were kids. How, being neighbors, he laid eyes on her the moment she was born and felt that she is his to love and protect and then Shafiqa takes up the narrative thread and tells the audience how he was the first thing she saw on opening her eyes on the world and how she knew instantly that he is her source protection and love.
In short, from the very first ten minutes of the movie we are introduced to a man and a woman who take the traditional idea of "man = protection for woman" to a higher level; a level that strikes us as obsessively possessive.
Since Taimour is "the man" what other manly job that can give him the chance to "protect" is there but the military or the police force? He joins the police force and from then onwards we see a lot of muscle exhibition scenes as his image as a mucho man is being construed. When he gets angry at other men he beats them up because, you see, he has so much "dignity" he can't stand being offended. When he gets angry at women, being "well brought up", he goes to his room smokes two cigarettes at the same time and starts push ups or boxing exercises to calm down.
As for Shafiqa she is all that a modern independent girl can be; a success in education and hard working. Why the hell does she feel anything for a brainless, backward and possessive guy I can't really understand. Every time she speaks up to defend her right to choose what to do with her life she is belittled by his very traditional comments and ordered around: you can't wear this you can't wear that; you can't go out with your friends when I'm not with you; you can't talk to your male classmates! And she ends up obeying him.
Half way through the movie they have a major argument after she goes to the beach with her girlfriends behind his back and he finds out. The result of the fight is that she decides she doesn't want him to control her any more and so they stop talking to each other for seven years during which he becomes a body guard for ministers and she gets her MA and PhD and becomes herself a minister, of environmental affairs, due to her unprecedented achievements in the field. And during this time one is falsely led to believe that the movie is finally supporting women's independence.
However, by some twist of luck he becomes her body guard and the power struggle begins again. They realize they can't live without each other but since Taimour can't accept to be working for his wife and doesn't see why he should be the one giving up his job she gives up her position (after he rescues her from kidnap abroad) and they get married!
What Taimour wi Shafiqa, which has been a box office hit this summer, is doing is to reemphasize what I have talked about earlier, the idea that woman is nothing if she's not married and with a home of her own.

The situation was both horrifying and appalling: an 11 year old child was raped, got pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl. Pictures of the two together, mother and child, or rather child and baby, were quite disturbing for Egyptians: How shocking! How inhuman! Where is our society heading? Why did a thing like that happen? The man who did that should be hanged in a public square. Rape punishments should become stricter than they already are. What kind of law would make a rapist get away with rape by marrying his victim? These were all different comments and headlines one saw and heard in the news on TV, in streets and cafes.

However, the wave of support for the girl began to break as soon as it started. A sinister voice in the crowd, to which more and more people listened, was heard, a voice that addressed the collective conscience, the one that believes that a girl always has a hand in what happens to her. "Have you heard her speak?" the voice said "have you heard her speak? She doesn't sound like an innocent child. She is definitely older, and she "knows". She is not the innocent little child the media likes to think she is." The voice then got stronger when the DNA test proved that she lied about the name of the man who raped her. "See, she lied, her story never made any sense at all from the very beginning, how can she have been kidnapped in broad daylight and nobody seen it?" "Yes! Of course" many people said, "why didn't she scream? And after she was raped why didn't she tell her parents? Why wait till it's too late? That is right she "knows" she is not innocent". Rumors then began: "the girl is known in her neighborhood to have a "bad reputation" the rumor said.

An 11 year old with bad reputation?!!!!!!!!!!

Why did people repeat the rumors and believe it? Because it relieved them. It once again reassured them that Egypt is still a safe place to live in. Egypt is still the place where only girls with "bad reputation" get harassed and raped. She had it coming, and it was nobody else's fault. Our society is still bekheir. It doesn't matter that she is 11 (or even 15 as some people say she is) it doesn't matter that she didn't know what the hell had happened to her, it doesn't matter that she got raped, she had a "bad reputation" and when they interviewed her on TV "she seemed to know" so it was her fault, or maybe her family's because they couldn't raise her properly!

Eleven Years old for heaven's sake!

Why did she lie if she was honest! Why didn't she tell her parents when she was raped? Well haven't you heard? Hardly anybody who gets raped ever speaks up. Why lie? The guy who raped her knew her every step. He threatened to kill her and since there is no real legal protection in this country (our police don't have the time to catch murderers, rapists or thieves, they are busy sodomizing "suspects") people hardly ever speak up.

As for her "knowing" when did that become an excuse for rape? I "know" does that put me on the "you are allowed to rape" list? And isn't the fact that she is an ELEVEN year old girl who "knows" depressing? I have seen children from poverty stricken areas like her, I have talked to a few street children and their language, the things they say, reveal a lot of sexual abuse, they speak like grown ups, what they say is very crude but are they aware of its meaning? No. Like this little girl, their childhood innocence has been taken away never to be regained and this is the true crime, this is what Hind, the 11 year old mother, stands for, abused childhood, and every single person who had a hand in the rise of the rates of unemployment, illiteracy and poverty in this country is responsible for that crime.

I have decided to start my own "Black List of Psychopathic Woman Haters in Power". It will include all public figures (male and female) who make any sort of misogynistic comments in the media (believe it or not some women out there are more royal than the king). The ranks will be updated regularly so that the number one on my black list would be the one with the most outrageously sexist remarks.

Remember Judge Dakrouri, well he is currently number two on my list because number one is now the amazing Karam El Hafian the NDP MP (by the way his family name means in Arabic "the bare footed").

Sawt Al Ummah has quoted this wacko (who fainted in the middle of a parliamentary session after getting all worked up about Farouq Hosni's "insult" to Islam) saying that women should never become judges because of the menstruation cycle! What does being a judge have to do with having the period? I have been cracking up my head to understand the reason but couldn't find any except for the disgusting widespread belief that menstruating women are dirty creatures, if that is his attitude well….

Anyway, since women have, unfortunately, been appointed as judges, the poor man had to accept the status Quo. However, in a parliamentary session that discussed the retirement age for judges he decided he's not keeping his opinion to himself any longer and demanded that men should retire at 70 while women should retire at 60.

"This is not discrimination," he said, "This is due to the biological difference between men and women and their ability to give. Men become wiser and closer to God as they grow older but women become senile…. and their temper becomes more acute because of menopause." In other words, women can't judge when they have their periods because they don't think clearly when they do and they can't judge when they stop having their periods because, again, they can't think clearly when they do. Hmm, it seems like he's difficult to please!

I would really love to know what science books this guy has been reading. Maybe one of those twisted Victorian Age books that "proved" that women and colored people are less developed than the White Man? In that case he should definitely look in the mirror, he is "colored". Anyway, he doesn't look like the type that would waste their time reading anything.

What is even worse is that he is absolutely unaware of his male chauvinism. He thinks of himself in fact as a supporter of women, and his reasons? "Egypt has become socially and economically backward ever since women went out to work (again I wonder what history and economic books he has been reading?). It was a bad decision to allow women to leave the house. I believe that women should leave the house only when necessary, this is because I consider women jewels that should be preserved and guarded. Women should remain at home to wait on their husbands and take care of their children." He explained.

I'm gonna exert self control and hold back all the swear words that are echoing inside my brains just in case he decides to sue me BUT I have to admit that right now a lot of violent scenarios are taking place inside my head.

Anyway, since violence never turns stupid people sensible, I have a better plan for revenge. I think that he should be put in an office where his boss and colleagues are sturdy, broad shouldered middle aged women civil servants (the overweight type of mouwazzafat we see in governmental offices) so that he would think twice before ever speaking about women like that again. What do you think?

I was passing by a used books shack when a book caught my attention; it was the biography of Al Zir Salem, our own version of a cross between Don Juan and William Wallace.Al Zir Salem lived in the Arabian Peninsula during Al Jahiliyah, the pre-Islamic period. He was the member of one of the largest tribes of the time and he was an alcoholic, a womanizer and a poet. He led a loose and promiscuous life until his brother was killed. From that moment onwards, in his quest for revenge, he developed into the legendary epic hero he is now known for. His name is just Salem. Zir literally means a big clay pot and it used to refer to the pots in which alcohol was kept. The word (usually in the form of the combined phrase: Zeir Nesaa meaning a pot of women) is used in classical Arabic to mean a playboy or womanizer.Anyway, as I was saying, I noticed the book with the picture of an ancient hero on horseback and sword in hand when a question crossed my mind: why is it that when a man has too many sexual relationships he is described in different heroic and positive terms while women who have too many sexual relationships are negatively labeled? And this is not just the case in our society; it is the same thing in the west, as far as I know. Really, why is the idea of sexual innocence only attached to women while men are always expected to "know"? Why is it that men who sleep around are described as "virile" and are expected to boast about their "conquests" while women who do the same are "bitches", "easy", "whores" or "sluts"? If you can answer that please let me know!